Jason's BATs & Tutorials

[mosin33 5]

I like your latest building Jason, my only complaint is the roof. I think the texure is very nice but it needs some AC unit on the roof I think. Anyway you already released it so oh well. Hhaahaha either way it will look very nice.

So good job and keep working.

mosin33

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I've updated the two new uploads so that they only grow on the Euro Tileset.  Before they grew in all tilesets.

Trier Tower has been exported (it looks the same as before), and is ready for modding.  I'll be re-rendering Oullette Electronics, but aside from that, it is also ready for modding.

After those, my WIPs are:  One Woodward Avenue, 211 West Fort Street, The Kean, and The Penobscot Building.

Iniesta:  Thanks!

Gn_leugim:  The glass doesn't really have any reflections, it's clear glass.  I'm not sure what you mean.

SWAT-MEDIC:  So more like those Polish modern apartment uploads?  That's interesting. 

nofunk:  ahh, you posted 10 minutes before I uploaded them. 

SimHoTToDDy:  I went with R$$$.  I won't be making an variations of this, but I plopped them together in the game and they don't look too bad next to each other.  The building is actually pretty small in the game, so the yard variations don't make as much as an impact as I thought they would.

I agree about the tar paper.  Over the years I've tried a few different roof types and colors, but they never work out as well as what I usually do.

art128:  Thanks!

josefmayor:  heheh, a roof garden wouldn't be bad! 

mightygoose:  If it were real space would be made for closets and things like that (in the BAT there's not even a landing for the stairs), but in my experiences, in American homes people don't do that much.  I don't think I've ever gone to someone's house and put my coat in a closet or hook by the door, except for once and I remember it seemed fancy (like a coat check at a banquet or something).

mosin33:  Thanks!  I don't think there would be any roof junk on the roof.  I put some little drains, and some vents for the bathrooms on the roof.  The building would use radiant heating and cooling (pumping warm or cool water through pipes in the floor instead of pumping air through ducts), and the water boiler and chiller would probably be in the basement. 

Thanks for the comments guys! 

[Francis90b 748]

Thank you very much Jason, i've actually thought that this came after a school project.May I ask about for some previews of your WIPs?I was thinking about the Kean, since you didn't post any preview of it so far.

[mightygoose 92]

man that must be a US thing then as for the UK 95% of housing has the front door opening into the hallway, for coats and shoes etc if they don't infact have a porch...

one final thing, would you consider making a second or third version of this with slight variations in lighting and greenery, just so in larger developments the repetativeness isn't overwhelming.

[benvoliothefirst 36]

Great work! Jason, I just raided all of your stex files and rated you fives across the board... your BATs are always beautiful, I appreciate all the work that goes into 'em. Keep it up!

[Swiss_Canadian 2]

Glad to see Ouellette Electronics is still alive and kicking! I love the new rowhouses Jas; they would look very much at home on the U of Windsor campus, no lie. I'll have to show it to you next time you trek over here.

[Gn_leugim 853]

well, if it's not reflections is how it's texture, how it looks.. the way it is it looks like is reflecting something big as well as the sky.. (I hate when I can't express myself as I wish lol)

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Swiss_Canadian:  Yep!  It's with Nofunk now for modding.  Yeah, I'll need to get a tour!  But I hear they're finally following through with that passport stuff (which I think is dumb), so I guess I need to get a passport.

Gn_leugim:  Yeah, there are no reflections, and if there were, they'd be reflecting the ground.  The white parts are cloth window blinds.  The dark parts are the shadows on the ground from the window frames and blinds.  The grey part is the floor itself.  I'll try to make it more clear next time.

I've started a new quick project, which should be done and uploaded within a few days.  It's going to be a set of "Air Filters" for use between roads, or wherever else they fit. 

Some kind of moss or algae or something grows on a metal lattice work.  A fan inside a big chimney draws air through the algae, and it comes out cleaner.  There's a ditch underneath which collects water which is pumped through the pipes which waters the plants.

Shown above is a 1x1, and I plan on making a few sizes.  They'll reduce air and water pollution locally (like a small park on steroids).  They won't be cheap, but they won't be very expensive, and they won't take much to maintain.  It would be practical to plop these all over your city, though the costs may add up.

If I make these fast enough, I'll also make a more high tech looking tower, which would reduce air pollution throughout the entire city (or at least a large radius).  These would require a lot of electricity and water and a high maintanence cost, but I think it's fair considering how valuable reducing air pollution like that would be (I don't want this to be a cheat lot).

[Gn_leugim 853]

I see.

these air cleaners are such good idea are they based on something real? or just you imagination giving good ideas?

[nofunk 1,933]

Hm... your new project is interesting! I'm glad you're taking a more realistic approach to them than other similar lots. Can't wait to see the other versions.

You don't need a passport to go to Canada, but you would need to get one of those new enhanced Michigan IDs. Of course, I'm not sure which would be easier to obtain--the state ID or the passport lol.

[Swiss_Canadian 2]

I think it's mostly just Canadians they're trying to keep out, not so much Michiganders. I'm sure they'd let you back in if you came over for a few hours. You should come too nofunk.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Well everyone, I hope you've enjoyed my uploading spree (6 uploads in 33 days). 

I've finished most of my in-progress BATs, and am left with One Woodward Avenue, 211 West Fort Street, The Penobscot Building, and The Kean. 

I started the first three of those in 2006, and haven't worked on them very diligently since that time, but 211 West Fort Street, and One Woodward Avenue are almost done, and should be finished relatively soon.  The Kean was started a few months ago, and is farther along than it looks. 

All of these are Barry Sanders Project BATs, so my updates about them are in the BSP thread (and so this thread won't have any updates in the next few months, which is why I'm posting this).  I'd like to have all of these uploaded by the end of the summer (hopefully the Penobscot Building too!).

[JakeMD 107]

Good luck Jason! I would never keep a project going for 3 years

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

When you are as particular with Bating as us ( Myself only uploading one thing in my 8 month BATing career), getting it right is more important than getting it done. Not to mention the endless number of things that get in the way. Look at andistart's Burj Dubai.

I should really start posting over there too, shouldn't I?

-Todd

[Jasoncw 11,840]

You should!  Nofunk should too! 

[JakeMD 107]

Maybe with my OCD I spend too much time trying to get things lined up that it becomes boring

[Leodido 0]

Awesome work, your models are of a very high quality!

[Jedimarine 119]

Just curious...I was one of the early adopters of the Central Police Station/Lot last year. Was the bug on the Squad car lot ever solved? I'm doing a routine clearing of unused pieces from my plugs, and I just wanted to know if it's worth keeping, or if it's a lost cause?

Also, if it is indeed broken, could we get a retool of the Central Police Station w/cars to dispatch...I know it doesn't have attached parking, but I can throw any parking lot along side for that effect. I'm just tired of having the big Police center, and having to drop other police stations nearby just to have squad cars to dispatch!

Any word on this would be great!

Thank you.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Right now the Patrol Car Lot is still broken. I've meant to fix it, but I'll probably never actually get around to it, but maybe I will. I appreciate everyone who's reported the glitch though, and I'm glad that everyone has enjoyed the station itself so much.

The glitch itself is that in some cases you can't demolish the lot after you've placed it. If you have no intentions of ever demolishing the lot, then you can still use it, lol. Otherwise I'd take it out of your plugins folder.

I know why it's broken though, I tried to modd it the more "proper" way, and screwed up, instead of doing it the quick and dirty way which would have worked just fine (this relates to the fact that there is no building on the lot, only props).

While I'm posting here, I haven't done much BATing over the summer, but I have been working on some stuff.

[Jedimarine 119]

Thank you so much for the quick feedback!

Love your work!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 6 months since I've updated this thread.

I've mostly been working on BSP stuff, but here is some non-BSP stuff that I worked on over the summer/fall.

Here is that CS$ that I made a thread about a while ago.  The BAT itself is done and this will be released in 2009.

Here is a new building I started during the summer.  It still needs more work.  It'll probably be released in 2010.  It's a CS$$$ (a hotel).  I think this render might already be out of date, since I've cleaned some things up since then.  It's a 3x4, and it's wall to wall on both the front and the back, so this would work well to cap off a block of wall to wall buildings.

[allez l'om 1]

These new projects look fantatstic!!

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Its looks Great!!!!, Im really ready to download both of your Buildings when they are done.

[io_bg 249]

Wow, these two buildings are simply magnificent! Especially the second one!

[Francis90b 748]

Nice projects there !

I really like the first one, but i'd like a more orange-ish tint to the bricks.

Do you plan it only as a corner building or are you thinking about a two sides w2w version?

I like the second one too, but there are some things that makes me feeling somewhat strange about it.

Why  does it have another floor between the end of the arched windows and the roof?

I believe there is too much contrast between the boldness of the middle section and the thin columns and large glass surfaces on the base.

Could you tell me more about the top tower?

I do also see that some cornices are overhanging at corners, and some others are recessing.

I'm sorry about for playing that much the fault-finder role on the 2nd building , and hope my post doesn't sound too rude.

I might elaborate a bit more my post later, maybe with a modified pic, if you want.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Both of them are actually loose recreations of the buildings in real life.  The first building is an anonymous building from Milwaukee, Wisconson.  Can anyone guess what the 2nd building is? 

The first one will only be wall to wall on the front.  I don't think I'll be making a 2x1 version either.

The 2nd building was intended to be a speed BAT.  The way I chose to cut down on time was to simply loosely and quickly model the real building as it is, instead of dwelling on the design or accuracy like I might on other buildings.  I've kept track of how long I've worked on it, and I don't know how long it has been off the top of my head, but it's only been a few hours, which is very fast for me.

The strange cornice corners are because I haven't gotten to modeling that part yet, although I think I might have since then (this is an old screenshot).

I agree with your comments about the design of the building, and I noticed the same things while I was BATing it.  But the building turned out well in real life, even though it wouldn't have made sense to me if I were designing it myself.

The top tower is there in real life.  Originally I wasn't going to model that part, but I felt like the building needed it.  That's not exactly what it looks like though.  For the BAT, I just copied the arched windows from the body of the building, and it doesn't work very well right now.  The top tower is something that still needs work.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I edited my signature to include a blog that I started, where I'll be posting BAT tutorials and tips. The BAT - Mega FAQ is pretty out of date, and other tutorials are sort of scattered around. I'm hoping the blog will be a good format for sharing stuff like that. So far I've posted an old tutorial that was buried in this thread, and a new tutorial about making bricks in photoshop.

[Chris M 406]

Yeah, I checked out your blog last night. It looks like it will be very useful for beginning BATers and even those who have been BATing for a long time. I'm looking forward to more tutorials. I've been wanting to get back into the BAT for quite some time, but have needed help on a few things. I think your blog might be that resource.

[mightygoose 92]

nice work as always jason, and DA it is good to see you still around.

[Evillions 552]

Nice read Jason, but texturing instead of modeling? Wouldn't someone notice it in-game?